Reid Bowyer ready to take the fight to cancer

Saturday

His war started earlier this summer, with the discovery of a brain tumor. Then an army of people started praying for him.

Dorman linebacker Kade Bowyer was chosen to give the student-led prayer at the Cavaliers’ first football game on Friday. His father, Reid, was there to support his son.

Nobody close to the Bowyers took that fact for granted for a single second. Nine days earlier, it was very much in doubt.

Reid, a regional director and area representative with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his brain on Aug. 14. On Aug. 21, he answered questions about his health and his future after having walked half a mile on a treadmill, per doctor’s orders. He credits the aftermath of his surgery and his remarkable recovery in the intervening week to one thing.

“It’s all God,” he said. “There’s nothing that can be pointed to except that we’re in the middle of a 2019 miracle. There’s no medical explanation for what’s going on. It’s Him performing a masterwork, and we’re committed to go to war. Whatever comes, we’re going to war, and we’re going to trust God’s plan in whatever’s in the future.”

Reid’s war started earlier this summer. In March, he made a decision to better his health, embarking on a diet and workout plan. In June, following a strenuous Saturday workout, he felt dizzy.

“I ended up fainting in our bathroom floor,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. I thought it was a blood-sugar problem. I ate something and was fine.”

But the episodes continued. As FCA camps started, Reid chalked them up to first one thing and then another. Blood sugar. Vertigo. A full heart evaluation came back “perfect,” he said.

Then at the end of July, at the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association annual clinic, he had symptoms of a stomach virus. His wife, Jodi, drove him home, but the symptoms persisted.

“It was constant,” he said. “I couldn’t rid myself of it. It got to the point that we thought I had a bacterial infection. So I followed up with a childhood friend, Brandon Davis, who is a doctor at Spartanburg Regional. He coached us through the weekend on Aug. 10 and 11, trying to nurse it until Monday, and if it wasn’t better to come to the emergency room.”

Once there, Reid’s vital signs and bloodwork were good, though he was still vomiting. Davis had him admitted to the hospital, ordered abdominal and CT scans, and eventually an MRI. A tumor was discovered in Reid’s brain, and surgery was scheduled for Aug. 14.

“They were shocked I hadn’t been having seizures already,” he said. “We literally went from a Monday night discovery and announcement to extensive brain surgery shortly after lunch on Wednesday.”

And from there, to chatting casually and walking on a treadmill the following Wednesday.

“I’ve had none of the expected or possible side effects or symptoms post-surgery,” Reid said. “I mean zero. There have been some balance issues, but nothing significant. Dr. (Phillip) Esce (Reid’s surgeon) said if he had scripted out how he wanted it to go, it couldn’t have gone better. It was totally perfect. Someone shared with me on Facebook the story of a family member who had brain surgery and was in the hospital for 19 days. I had surgery on Wednesday, and on Friday my wife drove me home and I walked into my house.”

In the week following his surgery, Reid learned exactly how big his support system actually is. From casual contacts to people he’s never met, he said the response to his illness has been staggering.

“Jodi and I decided to celebrate a victory of the day,” he said. “There have been so many. There are players I’ve worked with who are still young, who are with some big-time Division I programs, and we didn’t have a major relationship, but they’ve called and texted and sent gifts. Through FCA camps I get a chance to meet a good number of high-profile coaches, and through a defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts, I got a message from (head coach) Frank Reich, who I’ve never even met. Members of the Clemson football staff have told me about praying for me in meetings. Joey Batson (Clemson’s strength coach) called to tell me that I’m on his prayer list. It’s overwhelming, really, just to know there’s that much support.”

The support extends far beyond that, however.

“FCA is an international organization now, and Jodi and I worked in Egypt last October,” Reid said. “They worship on Friday night there. I got a message that an estimated 3 million Middle Eastern Christians had prayed for me at one time during an online church service. Our Church, The Mill, has been amazing with the way they’ve rallied around us and with their excitement in telling our story. There’s been a huge number of people signing up to bring us food, to go and pick things up, to do little things that we need. And District Six has been wonderful. Jodi is in her 18th year teaching there, and they’ve told her not to worry about her classroom or her job, but to just take care of me. There’s power in this community.”

Reid was emphatic in praising Spartanburg Regional’s care and treatment.

“People need to realize this is a premier place with highly-trained caregivers,” he said. “I’m very thankful, top-to-bottom, with how they treated not only me and my family, but the large gathering of people in the waiting room during my surgery.”

There also has been support from a number of Reid’s contacts in high school athletics. Many have reached out to Kade, particularly some of the Cavaliers’ biggest rivals.

“Because some of these coaches take what they do so much further than the field or the court that they’re on, my son is getting messages from players telling him that while they’re rivals on the field, they’re on his side in this and that they’re praying for him. For us. I train and coordinate a volunteer life coach for Byrnes football who works closely with Coach (Reggie) Shaw. Two of their players in particular, Chuck Strickland and Rahjai Harris, have reached out. One is going to walk on at South Carolina, one has multiple Power Five offers, and both have reached out wanting me to know that they care, that they love me. That’s the product of a coach who understands and teaches them life is bigger than the sport they play or the scholarships they get.”

Reid is going forward in the knowledge that he’s fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer, but one that is localized if it returns. The resident expert in the treatment of the disease is at Duke University, and it will take some time for a medical review and to get him on the schedule, particularly in light of the fact that he’s still recovering from traumatic brain surgery. Still, his prognosis is hopeful.

“We anticipate some radiation to fry out anything that’s potentially left,” he said. “I think there will be some type of chemo pill at some point. I’m preparing for a lifetime of consistent scans. But none of this is a surprise to God. He knew all this, we trust Him, and we’re going to fight a battle.”

On Friday, that battle was put aside for a few moments as Kade and the Cavaliers battled Wade Hampton.

“We’ve waited a long time for this,” Reid said before the game. “He’s a senior, in his first varsity start. He’s excited. We’re proud of him and I think it’s helped him to know that at this point I’m healthy enough to try to be present and see him.”

After Friday’s game, Kade said football had offered a welcome escape, but that he’d found peace about his father’s illness even earlier.

“It was just good to get out here with my team and just be around my brothers,” he said. “We’ve known since day one that God was in control. God works miracles, and he’s still working them today.”

Freelance writer Scott Keeler contributed to this report.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.